Two Arrested for Attempting to Bring Marijuana into the Cook County Jail

Thursday, March 12, 2009 —Two Chicago women have been arrested for trying to bring marijuana into the Cook County Jail, according to Sheriff Thomas J. Dart.

Investigators do not believe the women were working together, but both were arrested about an hour apart by the same correctional officer.

At 3:58 p.m. Saturday, Lilian Bautista, 19, of Chicago, was coming to visit a male detainee in the maximum security section of the jail. Officer Alesia Chester found a thumbnail-sized amount of marijuana flattened and packaged in a sandwich baggie inside Bautista's purse.

Around 5:41 p.m. Saturday, Denika Lee, 21, of Chicago, was coming to visit a male detainee in the maximum security section of the jail. Officer Chester found a thumbnail-sized amount of marijuana in Lee’s coat pocket, packaged inside a sandwich baggie. Lee insisted the coat wasn't hers, that she had simply borrowed it.

Bautista's package weighed about 1 gram, while Lee's weighed about 1.5 grams. Both women are charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

The street value of both drugs was about $5 each, but inside the jail it would have sold for about $150, investigators said. Detainees often barter items off the commissary accounts, such as food and hygiene products, in exchange for drugs. Those with drugs in the jail also sometimes demand money be wired to family members, authorities said